sidetracks & detours present PASS IT ON 63 weekly supplement Sunday 18 8 2024

sidetracks & detours

present

PASS IT ON 63

weekly supplement Sunday 18 8 2024

CONTENTS

Calling Out COME FOLLOW YOUR ART by Ed Desk

1 Following Festivals BOARDERS BUILD MANCHESTER by Alfred Michael

2 I love Manchester COMING SOON TO THE STILLER HALL by newsletter

3  Literature JONATHAN LIVINGSTONE SEAGULL by Joseph Aloysius

4 Live Jazz: British Jazz Artist on USA tour by JENNY BRAY

5 Live Jazz HOMAGE TO JAZZ GREATS preview by Jazz In Reading newsletter

6 Jazz On Air HOT BISCUITS SERVED by Steve Bewick

7 All Points Forward. A Reader´s Perspective ROUNDER RECORDS by Peter Pearson

8 Island Insights ARTISAN FAIR AT MANCHA BLANCA by Crusoe

Hear The Call

COME FOLLOW YOUR ART editorial

Hello, and thank you for joining us in another packed edition of PASS IT ON, our weekly Sunday Supplement. We´re confident you will agree that there is plenty of reading of interest in today´s publication. We are joined today by your favourite contributor, Peter Pearson, who has reminded me of one of my favourite record labels that was helpful building our Americana collections. Steve Bewick previews, as usual, his forthcoming Hot Biscuits mix-cloud edition for next week, and I´m certain that will encourage you to have a listen. We also feature two great pieces by two writers from our small company of ´invisible angels´ who take an overview from somewhere up in the sky. Alfred Michael invites you to a fast and furious sports festival and Joseph Aloysius takes a look at an ambitious flier. Your usual news items and listings are here too. Enjoy.

1 Following Festivals

BOARDERS BUILD MANCHESTER

by Alfred Michael

We don´t have skateboards up here. The clouds would be too fluffy to board on, for one thing, and those pearly gates would be really hard if you collided into them on your board. I was looking down at young Sky Brown at the Olympics Paris 2024 and saw her dislocate her shoulder and still racing, though, and it looked to be a fast and furious and even artistic sport.  So, when I noticed that Manchester will be hosting a skateboard festival over a period of a few days in July and August, I wrote down all the details on a paper aeroplane and set it on flight to the desk of my son- in-law, Norman Warwick in his PASS IT ON  office on Lanzarote.

adidas Skateboarding and Factory International announced the launch of Build Manchester, a twelve-day global skateboarding which was held between the 27th July – 8th  August at Aviva studios.

Build Manchester saw the outside spaces of Aviva Studios temporarily transformed into a custom-built skate plaza that hosted free activities, in collaboration with Manchester’s most influential skate communities.

Activities included open-to-all skate contests, skate schools, product launches, exhibitions, film premieres and workshops as well as the chance to see adidas’ Global Team Riders including the likes of Blondey McCoy, Jarrad Carlin, and Nikolai Piombo.

Saturday 27^th July: Opening Celebration

adidas and their Global Skate Team were present for the opening of Build Manchester and an evening celebration featured:

Skate Jam, in collaboration with adidas Global Team Riders including Blondey, Jarrad Carlin, Tom Snape, Nikolai Piombo, Gabriel Summers, Dan Fisher, and more! There was a Best Trick Competitions with opportunities to win special prizes and an Outdoor BBQ serving up food and drinks.

There was also a Live DJ set by Rory Milanes and James Edson (PWBC).

Date: Saturday 27th July, 16:00 – 22:00. Entry was free on a first come, first serve basis.

Some people brought their own board to skate the custom-built plaza or came down to watch the action.

Saturday 27th July – Saturday 3rd August: adidas Note Skate School 

Note skate shop, which has been influencing Manchester’s skate culture since 1999, brought their free skate school to Aviva Studios as part of Build Manchester.

Note x Northern Rolling introduced to the skate plaza environments their special features. Along with the Northern Rolling team, local pro skaters attended sessions to showcase and give tips on specific tricks and other aspects of the sport and culture such as skate filming and photographing, answering any questions.

Date: Saturday 27th July – Saturday 3rd August from 16:00 – 22:00. It was necessary to book for this event.

Weekdays 30th July – 8th August: Skate Sessions by ProjektsMcr

ProjektsMcr, a not-for-profit Community Benefit Society offered free coaching with adidas Skate at Aviva Studios this Summer.

The community, whose goal is to make skateboarding accessible to all, had a team of experienced team coaches who taught, and guided all ages (6+) and all abilities at this awesome purpose-built skatepark.

Whether you’ve never set foot on a board before or want to learn some new tricks, the Projekts Crew was there for you. The team hosted three, one-hour long tailored sessions each day.

Dates: 30th July – 2nd August (Tues – Fri) & 6th Aug – 8th Aug (Tues – Thursday) from 10:00 – 14:00.

Thursday 1st August: adidas Team Demo & Wear Test

The ‘Build – Team Tour’ hosted by adidas Skateboarding, continued in Manchester with an exciting Skate Demo featuring live DJs, giveaways, and competitions. Skaters will be challenged to skate the purpose-built obstacles and structures for a chance to win exciting prizes.

Following the event, the mobile custom build will remain in the space, open to use by the public and the local skate community.

Date: Thursday 1st August, 18:00 – 21:00.

Thursday August 8th: Note Store’s 25th Birthday Celebration

adidas Skateboarding and Note, the hub of Manchester’s skate culture since 1999, teamed up to celebrate its 25th Birthday at Aviva Studios.

Attendees experienced open-to-all skate contests, product prizes, screen-print workshops, a Manchester Skate-inspired exhibition as well as the chance to see adidas’ global team riders skate the plaza.

Date: Thursday, August 8th from 16:00 – 22:00. This event was free to attend on a first come, first serve basis.

Build Manchester had something for everyone.

2 COMING SOON to The Stoller Hall

preview by I Love Manchester newsletter

RACHEL PARRIS: POISE
16.10.24, 8pm Tickets: £23.50

Rachel Parris is back with her biggest tour yet, presenting a dazzling new show of her signature blend of stand-up and songs.

The BAFTA-nominated comedian is best known for both her viral satirical segments on The Mash Report and Late Night Mash which have had over 100 million views, and as one of the founding cast members of the award-winning improv group Austentatious, who regularly perform to sold out crowds in London’s West End.

“the angry/unhinged neurotic peeks out from beneath Parris’s polished carapace, and ratchets up the funny”  The Guardian

TOVA LEIGH: HONEY I’M LOSING IT
27.09.24, 7.30pm

Tickets: £27.50. With VIP Meet and Greet: £57.50 (Limited VIP tickets remaining!)

From mental load and rushing woman syndrome to hot flushes and why the secret to a healthy relationship is sleeping in different bedrooms, join bestselling author, comedian and global internet sensation Tova Leigh as she spills the beans on all things marriage, perimenopause, parenting and more.

Tova is best known for her blunt rants about motherhood and her viral online show ‘Mom Life Crisis’. Much like her online videos and books, this is a show filled with real life relatable and hilarious stories about the things no one ever talks about!

Support from Riona O’Connor.

RUSSELL WATSON: in conversation
03.10.24, 7.30pm Tickets: £30

In the first years of the new millennium Russell Watson was at the peak of his success as a much loved classical singer. He had gone from humble beginnings, working in a factory making nuts and bolts in Salford to performing to stadiums filled with thousands of fans.

But then tragedy struck. In 2006 and 2007 he was diagnosed with two brain tumours. Russell was determined to defy the odds and fight his way back – not only to recovery but also to finding his voice again.

To celebrate the release of his new memoir, Encore, Russell will be in conversation at a special intimate event here at the Stoller Hall. Join him for a rare opportunity to hear his remarkable story of triumph and tragedy and the self-determination and resilience that this has taught him.

The show will also include an audience Q&A and a chance to purchase a signed copy of Encore.

3 Literature

JONATHAN LIVINGSTONE SEAGULL

by Joseph Aloysius

Seagulls might be a bit of a pest up here, diving in and out of the fluffy white clouds. How they ever got on Noah´s Ark  in the first place I just don´t understand. I can see that down where I used to live the coastlines of the UK are riddled with tourist traps where seagulls plummet like kingfishers to eat ice cream cones out of human children´s hands as well as chips out of human mum and dads paper cones. And they can be messier creatures, and they do tend to whine.

Although I honestly can´t remember, some younger friends who live up here with me tell me that there was a time in the sixties, when I was in my eighties, that seagulls, or at least one seagull in particular, were rendered fabulous, heroic and misunderstood in an eponymous book about Jonathan Livingstone Seagull written by Richard Bach, and was later made into a film set to a Neil Diamond soundtrack. I don´t remember him either, if I´m honest.

However, when I last dropped in on earth, (we invisible angels can do that, you know!) I noticed that my grandson-in-law, Norman Warwick, has recently sent a brand new copy of the (very small) book over to South Korea, to my great, great grandson-in-law Andrew Warwick and his wife Sue, and a note asking them to PASS IT ON  to my great, great, great granddaughter, 14 year old Olivia.

I have no doubt that Norman would describe the book as being about personification and full of concise and succinct aphorisms to help the ambitious achieve their aims. I do know that there is a copy of the book on the bigger bookshelf he is currently building in his Lanzarote office, and I do know that every page of the text is daubed in Norman´s handwriting in red biro !

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is an allegorical fable in novella form written by American author Richard Bach and illustrated with black-and-white photographs shot by Russell Munson. It is about a seagull who is trying to learn about flying, personal reflection, freedom, and self-realization. It was first published in book form in 1970 with little advertising or expectations; by the end of 1972, over a million copies were in print, the book having reached the number one spot on bestseller lists mostly through word of mouth recommendations.

In 2014, the book was reissued as Jonathan Livingston Seagull: The Complete Edition, which added a 17-page fourth part to the story.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is an independent thinker frustrated with the daily squabbles over meagre food and sheer survival within his flock of seagulls who have no deeper sense of purpose. Unlike his peers, he is seized with a passion for flight of all kinds, and his soul soars as he aerially experiments and learns more about the nature of his own body and the environment in achieving faster and faster flights. Eventually, his lack of conformity within the Flock causes them to officially banish him with the label “Outcast”. Undeterred, Jonathan continues his efforts to reach ever-greater flight goals, finding that he is often successful. He lives a long happy life and is sad not due to his loneliness but only due to the fact that the rest of the Flock will never know the full glories of flying, like him. In his old age, he is met by two radiantly-bright seagulls who share his abilities, explaining to him that he has learned much, but that they have come to take him “home” where he will go “higher”.

Jonathan transcends into a reality, which he assumes is heaven, where all the gulls enjoy practicing incredible maneuvers and speeds, like him. His instructor, Sullivan, explains that a few gulls progress to this higher existence, but most others live through the same world over and over again. The Elder Gull of the community, Chiang, admits that this reality is not heaven, but that heaven is the achieving of perfection itself: an ability beyond any particular time or place. Suddenly, Chiang disappears, then reappears a moment later, displaying his attainment of perfect speed. When Jonathan begs to learn Chiang’s skills, Chiang explains that the secret to true flight is to recognize that one’s nature exists across all time and space. Jon begins successfully following Chiang’s teachings. One day, Chiang slowly transforms into a blindingly luminous being and, just before disappearing for the last time, he gives Jonathan one last tip: “keep working on love.” Jonathan ponders Chiang’s words and, in a discussion with Sullivan, decides to go back to his own home planet, to teach his original Flock all that he has learned. Returning there, he finds a fellow lover of flying, Fletcher Lynd Seagull, who is angry at recently being “Outcast” by the Flock. Jonathan takes on Fletcher as his first pupil.

Jonathan has now amassed a small group of Outcasts as flying students, with Fletcher the star pupil, and tells them that “each of us is in truth… an unlimited idea of freedom”. The deeper nature of his words is not yet understood by his pupils, who believe they are just getting basic flying lessons. For a month, Jonathan boldly takes them to perform aerial stunts in front of the bewildered Flock. Some of the Flock slowly join the Outcasts, while others label him a messiah or a devil; Jonathan feels misunderstood. One day, Fletcher dies in a flying collision. Awaking in another reality, he hears Jonathan’s voice teasing him that the trick to transcending the limitations of time and space is to take it step by step — not so quickly. Fletcher is resurrected in the very midst of the flabbergasted Flock, some of whom fear and decry his supernatural reappearance, but Jonathan insists that he must learn to love the ignorant Flock. Jonathan’s body suddenly begins to fade away, he requests that Fletcher stop others from thinking of him as anything silly like a god, and he gives a final piece of advice: “find out what you already know”. Soon, Fletcher faces a group of eager new students of his own. He passes on Jonathan’s sentiments that seagulls are limitless ideas of freedom and their bodies nothing more than thought itself, but this only baffles the young gulls. He realizes now why Jonathan taught him to take lessons slowly, step by step. Privately musing on Jonathan’s idea that there are no limits, Fletcher smiles at the implication of this: that he will see Jonathan again, one day.

In 2013, Richard Bach took up a non-published fourth part of the book which he had written contemporaneously with the original. He edited and polished it, and then sent the result to a publisher. Bach reported that he was inspired to finish the fourth part of the novella by a near-death experience,  which had occurred in relation to a nearly fatal plane crash in August 2012. In February 2014, the 138-page Bach work Illusions II: The Adventures of a Reluctant Student was published as a booklet by Kindle Direct Publishing. Illusions II also contains allusions to and insights regarding the same near-death experience. In October 2014, Jonathan Livingston Seagull: The Complete Edition, was published, and this edition includes Part Four of the story.

Part Four focuses on the period several hundred years after Jonathan and his students have left the Flock and their teachings become venerated rather than practiced. The birds spend all their time extolling the virtues of Jonathan and his students and spend no time flying for flying’s sake. The seagulls practice strange rituals and use demonstrations of their respect for Jonathan and his students as status symbols. Eventually some birds reject the ceremony and rituals and just start flying. Eventually one bird named Anthony Gull questions the value of living since “…life is pointless and since pointless is by definition meaningless then the only proper act is to dive into the ocean and drown. Better not to exist at all than to exist like a seaweed, without meaning or joy. He had to die sooner or later anyway, and he saw no reason to prolong the painful boredom of living.” As Anthony makes a dive-bomb to the sea, at a speed and from an altitude which would kill him, a white blur flashes alongside him. Anthony catches up to the blur, which turns out to be a seagull, and asks what the bird was doing.

The book was a sleeper hit; the first edition in 1970 was only 3,000 copies and it would take two years before reaching number one on the New York Times Bestseller List. “Not a single magazine or newspaper so much as mentioned the book when it first came out, The Times reported in 1972. Macmillan failed to secure any advance publicity for Bach, but he personally took out two very small ads in The New York Times Book Review  The first printing sold out by the end of 1970, and in 1971 an additional 140,000 copies were printed. Mostly a word of mouth phenomenon, it entered the NYT Bestseller List on April 20, 1972, where it remained for 37 weeks, and by July 1972 it had 440,000 copies in print.Reader’s Digest published a condensed version. In 1972 and 1973, the book topped the Publishers Weekly list of bestselling novels in the United States.

Book sellers didn’t know how to classify it. “Some put it under nature, some under religion, some under photography, some under children’s books.” Friede’s advice was, “put it next to the cash register.”

Several early commentators, emphasizing the first part of the book, see it as part of the US self-help and positive thinking culture, epitomized by Norman Vincent Peale and by the New Thought movement. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that the book was “so banal that it had to be sold to adults; kids would have seen through it.”

The book is listed as one of fifty “timeless spiritual classics” in a book by Tom Butler-Bowdon, who noted that “it is easy now, thirty-five years on, to overlook the originality of the book’s concept, and though some find it rather naïve, in fact it expresses timeless ideas about human potential.”

John Clute, for The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997), wrote: “an animal fantasy about a philosophical gull who is profoundly affected by flying, but who demands too much of his community and is cast out by it. He becomes an extremely well-behaved accursed wanderer, then dies, and in posthumous fantasy sequences – though he is too wise really to question the fact of death, and too calmly confident to have doubts about his continuing upward mobility – he learns greater wisdom. Back on Earth, he continues to preach and heal and finally returns to heaven, where he belongs.”

Richard David Bach, (left) the creator and writer of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, was born June 23 1936 in Oak Park, Illinois.

His family moved in 1941 to a little ranch north of Tucson, Arizona where they spent three years before ultimately settling down in Long Beach, California when Richard was eight years old.

Richard grew up in Long Beach — gazing through his homemade telescope; skin diving along the shores of Newport Beach; and making model airplanes in his backyard Quonset hut, dreaming of someday flying a real plane.

After graduating from Woodrow Wilson high school in 1954, and discovering he didn’t like college, Richard joined the Air Force.

He was an aviation cadet taking pre-flight training for three months at Lackland Air Base in Texas, then to Graham Air Base in Florida where he learned how to fly T-33s. At Williams AFB in Arizona, Richard became a Second Lieutenant and flew F-86Fs.

Leaving the Air Force in 1958, Richard returned, now with his wife, Bette, to Long Beach and took on jobs as: a draftsman, a mailman, and a freelance writer penning articles for Flying magazine.

His life would be irrevocably changed one night in 1959 as he walked home and heard a voice behind him say: ”Jonathan Livingston Seagull.” He turned around to find that no one was there.

Richard rushed back home to his apartment, a little bit frightened, and when he sat down at his desk, a full Technicolor movie played out in front of his eyes, showing the seagull’s story. Richard wrote down what he saw as fast as he could.

Unfortunately, the movie suddenly stopped midway through. Richard was left with an incomplete manuscript. He put it away in a drawer, where it would lie for the next eight years, when the ending just as suddenly presented itself to him and he completed the story.

The Cold War brought Richard back into active duty, spending a year in France from 1961 to 1962, flying F-84Fs in a war that could go hot at a moment’s notice. He became Captain Richard Bach during this time.

Writing about his time in France led to Richard‘s first book: Stranger To The Ground, published in 1963 when Richard was just 27 years old. It was a critical success.

Richard traded fighter jets for antique biplanes after returning from France, and worked as an editor, now, for Flying magazine in Manhattan, then later moving to their West Coast office in Beverly Hills.

A fan letter to Ray Bradbury in 1962 led to a lifelong friendship between the two men, and membership in Ray’s exclusive writers’ group, which met once a month in Ray’s Los Angeles basement. Richard would debut his Jonathan Livingston Seagull manuscript at these meetings.

Barnstorming and biplanes, however, were Richard‘s new obsession and his next two books, Biplane and Nothing By Chance, were devoted to these subjects.

In 1965, Richard moved his growing family (eventually growing to six children) to Ottumwa, Iowa where he worked for the Antique Airplane Association, while also devoting time to his passions: fixing up airplanes in his front yard; barnstorming the Midwest during the summers; and, of course, writing books.

Finally dusting off his Jonathan Livingston Seagull manuscript, he tried to get it published — only to receive 18 rejections. When, at last, it is published by Macmillan in 1970, now illustrated with Russell Munson’s photographs of seagulls in flight, it would become a worldwide best seller, selling 44 million copies (and counting) and be one of the top selling fiction novels of all time. The book has remained continuously in print for over fifty years.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull catapulted Richard to superstardom. He and Jonathan were even featured on Time magazine’s November 13, 1972 cover.

Divorcing in 1970, Richard continued barnstorming and eventually settled in Winter Haven, Florida. It was during this period he wrote his second bestseller: Illusions – The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. A semi-autobiographical, semi-fictional account of Richard encountering a mysterious man named Donald Shimoda while barnstorming one glorious 1970s Midwest summer. Illusions would go on to sell over 10 million copies.

So, there you have it Olivia. Good luck and enjoy your reading, Olivia, from. JA, your great, great, great grandfather. Fly High !

4 Live Jazz On Tour

an update from Jenny Bray

I’ve been in the USA since July 22nd and have once again, this summer met some wonderful musicians and venues! (Jenny, right with musicians).

I started in Pennsylvania playing at Karla’s New Hope piano/vocals solo for a couple of nights which is always an absolute pleasure, this year working with sound engineer Nicholas DeLamotte, Yamaha keys provided by a kind neighbour from New York Stephen, so huge thanks to both of them!

At ‘John and Peter’s’ New Hope I reunited with bassist Matt Kohut and drummer JP Wasicko for a show. Matt and JP played and produced on my first 2 albums and we’re planning to record together in a studio in Pennsylvania in 2025. I have a bunch of what I would call story songs that I love to play but have never recorded so it might be time!

In New Jersey I played a couple of dates in a new venue called ‘The Starving Artist Cafe’ in Stockton, and met up with several students I taught when I was residing in Brooklyn and New Jersey. That was really wonderful, Roland keys provided by Steve Caputi, huge thanks to him and Todd for sound and joined by JP Wasicko doumbek and JB Kline steel guitar,  truly special performances!

In Charlottsville Virginia at ‘The Local’ I had an amazing night playing at a songwriter’s showcase, Yamaha keys provided by my eldest son Will Bray, and bassist Michael Clemm, Rusty on the drums and Clayton guitar made a night to remember!

Last night couldn’t be better celebrating with a Bluegrass jam in Floyd Virginia at ‘The Country Store’.

PASS IT ON readers might like to kjnw that the next single to be released from One Hare One Owl is a song called Second-Hand Newspaper Boy. It will be released on 5th November; Bonfire Night in the UK and election day in the USA !

I have new thoughts on another album next year called Songs And Stories.

Edítor´s Note: Songs And Stories would be a very appropriate title for a Jenny Bray album. The first time I ever heard her music, on a Steve Bewick Hot Biscuits radio programme I was struck by how often her lyrics told a story, or part thereof sometimes, and by how the musical and vocal arrangements fitted the story she was telling in any particular song. Somehow, her in-song storytelling invariably left the listener wanting to know more. In fact, that is quite true also of her conversational styles. When I listened to her answering Steve´s questions to her during his radio interview she spoke very openly, about her parents, about her own family and about friends in, and out of, the music business. There is one song in particular on her current album, One Hare One Owl, released earlier this year. The song, Ringing Bells is  a caught in–time event which saw her father inviting her young son to accompany him to a bell ringing at the family´s local church. She beautifully recaptures how she felt to hear the bells pealing across the countryside as she sat outside imagining her dad and his grandson so enjoying themselves.

5 Live Jazz

HOMAGE TO THE GREATS OF JAZZ TRUMPET

preview by Jazz In Reading newsletter

Saturday 14 September 7:45pm
The Alan Cornish Theatre
Oakwood Centre, Headley Road
Woodley, Berkshire RG5 4JZ

Ewen Baird tenor saxophone
Martin Pickett piano
Steve Kershaw double bass
Mike Goff drums

Andy Townsend trumpet, flugelhorn

Ewen Baird teaches and plays around his Oxfordshire base and holds an MMus in jazz performance from Birmingham Conservatoire.
 
Martin Pickett is a freelance jazz pianist, teacher and original jazz composer.
 
Steve Kershaw is named ‘one of the countries best bass players’ by Jazz Views and delights in bringing together players from all over the world.
 
Mike Goff plays regularly around the South East, produces and promotes events and co-runs Goring Community Jazz Club.

Andy Townsend is a graduate of the Army School of Music and formerly a band member of REME (Regiment of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers).

Annually he performs many professional engagements in jazz quartets, sextets, shows and big bands. Also a qualified Bandmaster (LTCM) Andy holds teaching posts in schools in Oxfordshire and Berkshire.
 
Tonight with the Quartet he will pay homage to the jazz repertoire of trumpet greats like Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Dizzy Gillespie and Freddie Hubbard.

6 Jazz On Air

HOT BISCUITS served by Steve Bewick

From Trefor Owen Trio, playing at The Railway, South Manchester some time back we have selected to play a shjort live set from that gig, with Andy Hume, and Dave Turner on bass,.

Trefor Owen (right) is a self-taught guitarist who took up the guitar at the relatively late age of 18. At that time, Trefor was aware of a certain sound in his head, but without knowing what he was hearing, until one night he heard Benny Goodman’s “Rose Room” featuring Charlie Christian on guitar and realised that the sound was jazz. From then onwards, jazz has been his life.

Charlie Christian, and also Johnny Smith and Wes Montgomery, inspired Trefor’s playing greatly and a later influence was Pat Martino. During a trip to the States in 1988, Trefor interviewed Pat for the jazz guitar magazine, “Archtop”, on which he was a regular columnist.

Trefor greatly admires the musical genius of the late Ike Isaacs and of Louis Stewart. He toured Britain with Louis in 1989, their guitar duo being heard in, for example, the Band on the Wall in Manchester, Glasgow’s Musicians’ Institute and at the Soho Jazz Festival.

Trefor Owen has many festival appearances to his credit, including several at Cork International Jazz Festival. In 1990, he and fellow guitarist Adrian Ingram conducted the prestigious jazz workshop there.

In 1992, Trefor was short-listed for the Daily Post Award for Jazz and was awarded an Arts Council bursary for the composition of ten Latin American pieces.

During the past few years, Trefor Owen has played extensively with the fantastic Martin Taylor and the great Mundell Lowe. In 1993, he toured the UK and appeared at Cork International Jazz Festival with International Guitar Spectacular, a four-guitar combo in which he featured with Mundell Lowe, Louis Stewart and Doug Raney.

During a 15-date British tour with Mundell Lowe in 1995, Trefor’s playing was highly acclaimed wherever he appeared. Trefor played alongside Mundell in a BBC recording made during the tour and broadcast in the Radio 3 series “Impressions” in May 1995. In the same month, Trefor performed at the Northern Guitar Show organised by Guitarist Magazine.

1995 continued to be a highly-successful year for Trefor Owen. In September, The Trefor Owen Quartet presentation “A Tribute To Wes Montgomery” received a Jazz Services National Touring Support Scheme Award for its UK tour. In October, Trefor appeared with Howard Alden and Adrian Ingram at the Arlington Guitar Show Texas USA, and became a regular columnist for an American publication “Just Jazz Guitar”.

Trefor Owen’s 1996 festival dates included Keswick, Llangollen and Cork. Another 1996 highlight was a U.K. tour with Paris based U.S. guitarist Jimmy Gourley.

In January 1997 Trefor played at the NAMM Show in Los Angeles, and in May appeared at the New York Guitar Show, alongside many Jazz guitar greats.

Trefor’s dream of a tour of the U.S.A. came true in July 1997 when he performed concerts and workshops in New York, North Carolina and Nashville.

In October, he again toured the U.K. with the legendary Mundell Lowe, performing both concerts and workshops. Highlights of the tour included a broadcast for BBC Radio Scotland and appearances at the renowned Pizza Express Jazz clubs in London and Glasgow.

January 1998 began with appearances at the NAMM Show, Los Angeles. Trefor also appeared with Mundell Lowe and John Pisano at the L. A. Jazz Guitar Weekend at Papashon’s Restaurant, Encino alongside many Jazz guitar greats.

In April 1998 he released an album on the Crimson label. The album includes seven of Trefor’s original compositions and is titled, “WALES PLAYS BRAZIL”.

In May 1998 Trefor Owen again appeared at the New York Guitar Show, Long Island giving a workshop and concert. In July/August he performed in a guitar duo with Jim Nichols in the main auditorium, and conducted a workshop, at the Chet Atkins Convention in Nashville, followed by a return visit to Papashon’s Restaurant, Encino, Los Angeles, where he played with Ron Eschete and John Pisano. On the same tour Trefor made appearances in San Francisco at Enrico’s with Jim Nichols, and at the famous Pearl’s Jazz Club with guitarist Bruce Forman, and performed at the Acoustic Guitar Show at San Rafael.

In September Trefor made appearances with American guitarist Randy Johnston and in October paid his fourth visit of 1998 to the USA, giving performances in the Boston area.

Trefor began 1999 by appearing at the NAMM Show, Los Angeles and in May for the third time played at the New York Guitar Show, alongside many Jazz guitar greats. In the Autumn he toured the U.K., first with Mundell Lowe in September, and then with Randy Johnston in November.

In April 2000 Trefor Owen was again invited to appear at the New York Guitar Show, Long Island

In April 2001 Trefor again toured the U.K. with the legendary Mundell Lowe, performing both concerts and workshops. Highlights of the tour included a broadcast for BBC Radio Scotland.

In 2006, for the third consecutive year, he toured California appearing in San Francisco and at John Pisano’s Guitar Night at Spazios, Sherman Oaks, L. A. During the tour, Trefor performed clinics for JazzMasters Workshops at Carmel, the first non American guitarist to do so and has since made another appearance in the Jazz Bar at the Classic American Guitar Show, and appeared at the prestigious Jazz Cafe, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.

In August 2008, for the eighth year, he led a team of international guitarists tutoring and performing at the North Wales International Jazz Guitar Festival and Summer School in Wrexham.

Trefor Owen believes that Jazz should be both beautiful and communicative and accomplishes these qualities in his own playing, with his superb sound, fluid melodic lines and punchy rhythm.

Despite a busy professional life, in 1990 Trefor, with Maureen Hopkins, formed and became co-director of the North Wales Jazz Society, which for 30 years presented numerous world renowned jazz artistes. Between 2000 and 2008 he and Maureen organised the annual North Wales International Jazz Guitar Festival/Summer School.

North Wales Jazz Society no longer exists Since Maureen and Trefor retired from presenting concerts and unfortunately could not find anyone to continue the work. However, Trefor continues to present the highly popular Jazz Guitar Weekends at Coleg Cambria (Yale), Wrexham.

Also on our HOT BISCUITS playlist, is is Willie “Bunk” Johnson and his NO Jazz band.

We also feature Laura Jurd‘s Dinosaur, from the CD `To the Earth`.

There is, too, James Chadwick. Guitarist Trio with `Lo La`, and The Red Garland Trio with `Rogo`.

We will be finishing the show with Ben Crosland and `Welsh Cake`.

If this looks tempting then support this page and join me at WWW.mixcloud.com/stevebewick/ 24/07

And please note the link and feel free to PASS IT ON

Regards, Steve Bewick

7 ROUNDER.

A Reader´s Perspective. All Points Forweard

by Peter Pearson

Oh Didn’t They Ramble-Rounder Records and The Transformation of American Roots Music is a comprehensive is a comprehensive history of a record label that it might, perhaps, have paved the way for the Americana genre of music we know today. This excellent book is by David Menconi-(right).

For over 50 years Rounder and Sugar Hill have been the  premier source for bluegrass, old time, and Americana music.

Operating in a niche market these independent labels were, until the rise in digital, viable alternatives for roots artists, compared to the major labels with their emphasis on hit records, an album a year and radio friendly songs.

The philosophy of Rounder has always been to put the music and artist first. Until the rise of digital music and streaming completely changed the landscape, Rounder were able to be true to this philosophy and still make money. The advent of digital relieved the majors of a great deal of overhead and enabled them to be more nimble in the market.

The major labels are now making more than they ever have. They have finally achieved their dream with streaming, which is not to have to mess with the physical product and pressing plants, storing and distributing CD’s. They just put it out on streaming platforms, people listen to it on their devices and the little fractions of pennies add up to billions. Consequently it has become ever more difficult for independents to compete. They were effectively in the middle ground. It had become easier for artists to market their own music and had less need to seek out independents and  so it was no surprise that in 2010 Rounder was sold to Concord Group, followed, not long after, by Sugar Hill.

This book traces the history of Rounder Records and the story of its three founders who started out selling records out of their van at bluegrass festivals and from the basement of their house. As a history it makes for an absorbing read but it does make you wish for a part two, which is about its battle with the major labels following its sale and its acquisition of artists such as Billy Strings, Sarah Jarosz, Dawes, Nanci Griffith and many others. On the plus side it does provide valuable insight into how it managed to keep Alison Krauss on the label from her early beginnings, nurturing a career which has established her as a bluegrass legend through to wider appeal with her teaming up with rock icon, Robert Plant.

The three founders, Ken Irwin, shown with Alison Krauss, and Marian Leighton Levy and Bill Nowlin met as graduates in the 60’s and had a keen interest in folk music. Travelling on trains on the folk circuit they encountered old timers playing folk and bluegrass that was not being recorded. There was a void—the major labels had lost interest in folk music by then, after Beatlemania. The three decided to launch a record company to exploit that gap but things got off to a rocky start. Their first recording session, with bluegrass artists Red Allen and Frank Wakefield, produced nothing of value because Allen was suffering from gout. Then they taped a live show by the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover, but the tragic death of a band member’s son weighed the performance down, and the recording was deemed unworthy of release. Undeterred, they secured rights to an existing recording by old-time banjo player George Pegram and released it in October of 1970. Then they facilitated a session at Harvard University by a band called the Spark Gap Wonder Boys and put that out as Rounder 0002. In spite of set-backs, in 1972 they released 19 albums, with 21 to follow the next year. And with that Rounder Records was born.

They launched a distribution arm and ramped up to on average an album a week. With no real business knowledge their determination and love of the music carried them through.

Early signings included bluegrass artist Del McCoury and then Norman Blake, whose album, Home In Sulphur Springs, a guitar and dobro recording sold 35,000 copies in its first year, just the right sized success for the growing company. Soon came another album destined for greatness, the debut of J.D. Crowe and the New South, featuring  Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas and the mighty banjo player J.D. Crowe. Self-titled, it became known to bluegrass fanatics by its catalog number, Rounder 0044.

It wasn’t all folk and bluegrass though. The big development, as told in Oh Didn’t They Ramble, was the happy accident of signing an electric  guitarist bluesman. George Thorogood to a deal before anybody knew who he was. It was only after persistent prodding by a school bus driver who was an ardent fan, which Rounder initially resisted, but then took a chance on and signed an artist definitely outside the folk and bluegrass tradition. He became the label’s first bona-fide star. His self titled album George Thorogood (left) and The Destroyers, released on Rounder in 1977 struck gold.

Another landmark was the signing of 14 year old Alison Krauss in 1985. The story of how she was signed to the label and the nurturing of her career is told in great detail in the book. Once she became famous, other labels competed to sign her but she resisted their overtures and amply rewarded the founders for their help in developing her career. She became their greatest force winning Grammys galore and more recently diversifying out of pure bluegrass with her duo project with rock legend, Robert Plant.

The company diversified as well, launching various imprints – Heartbeat for reggae, Philo for singer-songwriters and Zoë for album oriented rock.

Eventually the founders decided it was time to sell. Concord Group have retained the label name but it has lost its lustre and can no longer be called an independent. Billy Strings has moved to Warner and now their greatest signing, Alison Krauss, has moved to Capitol.

8 Island Insights

ARTISANS AT MANCHA BLANCA

by Crusoe

The 35^th annual Craft Fair at Mancha Blanca has been announced, with special guests from the Canaries’ Atlantic neighbours, Madeira, the Azores and Cape Verde.

The Craft Fair is one of the main attractions during the Fiestas de Los Dolores – the most important of Lanzarote’s summer festivals. For three years, Covid restrictions had put a stop to this huge event, but the crowds were back again last year.

It is held in a large marquee located next to the church in Mancha Blanca. On your way there you’ll pass a statue of Doña Dorotea, the woman who revived pottery on Lanzarote and made the “Novios del Mojón” fertility symbols an emblem of the island.

Entering the marquee at the fair, you will immediately find yourself in front of examples of Lanzarote’s most famous traditional crafts – the pretty embroidered rosettes that decorate tables, walls, and costumes; the rough pottery made from clay from the cliffs of Famara; the palm-weaving that can create items as tough as a log basket and as fine as a delicate bonnet.

Posters featuring vintage photos of Lanzarote crafts, with a focus on natural vegetable fibres such as palm leaves, will publicise the Fair.

The fair will take place from the 10^th to the 15^th of September in the marquee near the church at Mancha Blanca.  

See the full list of participants that will be at this year’s fair here: https://www.artesaniadelanzarote.com/35-feria-de-artesania-de-lanzarote-2024/

CRAFTS ON LANZAROTE

To discover crafts on Lanzarote, three places are indispensable. First, the Teguise Market on Sundays is home to several artisans, and you’ll find several more studios and workshops in the winding backstreets of the old town.

A trip to Haría on a Saturday morning will also reveal several local craftsmen and women selling their creations in the lovely, tree-lined central square. It’s also worth checking Haria’s Taller de Artesanía while you’re there, situated next to the town food market on C/La Longuera.

The Monumento del Campesino not only has shops selling craftworks, but several studios and workshops where you can sign up to learn various crafts.

These are by no means the only places – the Cabildo has offered active support to artisans, and Lanzarote is the sort of place where you can bump into beauty and skill by pure accident.

Island Insights

SAN GINES FESTIVITIES 2024

Cooltura has reminded us that The Annual San Gines Festival is in full flow. This has been just about our favourite event of the year since we came to live here on Lanzarote ten years ago. It is an eclectic mix of children´s parties, workshops and events for adults and concerts of folk lore music for all the family. These events are dotted at lovely venues throughout our elegant capital city of Arrecife. Most events are free, and there will be exciting music concerts on the beautiful El Reducto beach as well as at smaller stages around the huge, and unique lagoon that is the Charcos. The San Gines Festival opened last week but there is even more to see, hear and join in with throughout next week. If you here on holiday at the moment, or will be here next week, come join us at this wonderful festival.

Monday 19th August
3-8pm: Inflatable rides, workshops and children’s and youth entertainment games. El Reducto Beach.
7pm: Video games on a giant screen. Municipal Arcade. 8.30pm
: Musical performance “El Cribo Canta”. This will be followed by traditional Cuban music with a performance by Los Viejos de la Palma. José Ramírez Cerdá Park.
9pm: “Fast & Furious X” Summer Cinema. Municipal Arcade.

Tuesday, August 20
3:00pm-8:00pm: Inflatable rides, workshops and animation games for children and young people. El Reducto Beach.
7:30pm: Zumba Live Beach Music. El Reducto Beach.
7:00pm: Video games on a giant screen. Municipal Recova.
9:00pm: Divas. The power of music. Tribute to Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Dua Lipa. José Ramírez Cerdá Park.
9:00pm: “Patrick” Summer Cinema. Municipal Recova.

Wednesday 21st August
15:00h-20:00h: Inflatables, workshops and entertainment games for children and young people. El Reducto Beach.
19:00: Presentation of the book “Visions of the history of tourism in Lanzarote”.
Agustín de la Hoz Cultural Centre.
20:30h: Children’s musical “The Curious Inspector and the Lost Diamond”. José Ramírez Cerdá Park.

Thursday 22nd August
3pm-8pm: Inflatable games, workshops and entertainment for children and young people. El Reducto Beach.
7pm: Video games on a giant screen. Municipal Arcade.
8pm: El Arrebato concert. El Reducto Beach.
9pm: Summer cinema: “The Little Mermaid”. Municipal Arcade.

Friday, August 23
3:00pm-8:00pm: Inflatable rides, workshops and animation games for children and young people. El Reducto Beach.
7:00pm: Video games on a giant screen. Municipal Arcade.
8:30pm: Night of Parrandas. Avenida Vargas. 9:00pm
: Summer Cinema: “Elemental”. Municipal Arcade.
9:00pm: 35th Peasant Festival with the show “Laboratorio Escénico”. José Ramírez Cerdá Park.

Saturday, August 24th
7:00pm: Video games on a giant screen. Municipal Recova.
7:30pm: San Ginés 2024 Choreographic Competition. José Ramírez Cerdá Park Information and registration danceonarrecife@gmail.com. 8:00
pm: Camela Concert. El Reducto Beach.
10:30pm: Open-air dance with performances by Kalibre and Nueva Stela. José Ramírez Cerdá Park.
9:00pm: Summer Cinema: “Campeonex”. Municipal Recova.

Sunday, August 25
8:00 p.m.: Concert by Sebastián Yatra. El Reducto Beach.
Fireworks to follow. San Ginés Fair.

The Arrecife Town Hall’s Department of Festivals is in advanced negotiations to bring the famous Colombian musician Sebastián Yatra for the big day of the San Ginés Festival. Although the performance is not yet fully confirmed, the council’s intention is to ensure the presence of the interpreter of hits such as “Tacones Rojos” and “Pareja del Año” to close the event that will take place from 8 to 25 August in the capital of Lanzarote.

Sebastián Yatra, known for his numerous international hits, is one of the most listened to artists in the world with 24.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify. His possible performance would join that of other international artists who have participated in Lanzarote’s cultural programming in recent months, such as Saiko, Sara Socas, Cruz Cafuné, Camilo, Manuel Turizo, Omar Montes and Beleé, raising the level of musical events on the island.

Yatra is not only popular for his music, but also for his role as a coach on La Voz Kids Spain. In his personal life, he has collaborated on songs with his partner, the Catalan artist Aitana Ocaña, with songs such as “Akureiry” (2024) and “Las Dudas” (2022) standing out.

Other possible concerts

The Arrecife City Council is also considering other artists as possible participants for the San Ginés Festivities. Among them are the Spaniards Abraham Mateo and Rafael Ruiz. Abraham Mateo, known for hits such as “Clavaíto” and “Quiero Decirte”, and Rafael Ruiz, semi-finalist of La Voz in 2020, could be part of the line-up that will accompany Yatra at the close of the festivities. With the confirmation of the international referee Alejandro Hernández as the herald, the San Ginés Festivities promise to be an unforgettable event for residents and visitors.

What´s next I must admit we probably sound like a poor man´s version of Wayne Fontana and The Mindebenders with our first piece on Monday 19^th August when  Graham Marshall of Rochdale Music Society and The Rochdale Amateur Light Orchestra. In fact you could add another m, for Manchester Camerata, who deliver so many useful interventions, and on Wednesday we site some effective community projects. On Thursday I go looking for Bela Fleck, a man I still think of as master of the Flecktones, but who is in fact a musical polymath and genius. Yes, Yes, of course we will make room for a couple of books on him on our growing ever-bigger bookshelf. Our next day off is Saturday, and then we´ll be here again on Sunday with all sorts of stuff and would be so pleased if you were able to PASS IT ON.